[Intro: Kanye West]

Uh, we got the Black elite in the house tonight

Rosewood

I feel like I'm at the NAACP or something right now

The Essence Festival

Q-Tip on the beat too, uh, uh

[Chorus: Kanye West]

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

[Verse 1: Kanye West]

They try to tell me my chain broke the levee

Maybe 'cause it's flooded

Why you walk around with a baby cross's cousin?

My teeth already white, y'all gon' make me floss for nothing

My teeth real diamonds, what's the cause of the frontin'?

Why y'all got all caps on?

Don Cheadle time, get extra Black on 'em

"Burn, Hollywood, burn" –

Take too long for niggas to get they turn

Probably be cremated before I get my earn

They try to tell me that aliens built the pyramids

I swear life's a bitch on her period

For every inch they cut the nose off the Sphinx

I make my jeweler add a few more links

You can look at me, tell I ain't fuck what nobody think

And my face always lookin' like somebody stinks

[Chorus: Kanye West]

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

[Post-Chorus: Kanye West]

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Alright, okay

Here we go, like we should

Like we should, like we should

Like we should

[Verse 2: Kanye West]

Question, what color was the skin of the man who beared the cross?

No matter how many lashes, they couldn't beat it off

How many Cassius's will we see in one lifetime?

That's why it's Miles Davis, Kobe, it's Mike time

I keep that GOAT book on the ottoman

And wrote hooks about slaves that was slaughtered in the 1800s

Y'all forget that –

I got called "nigga" on Twitter so many times, yo, I lived that

Now I'm just tryna find where to raise my kids at

'Cause they don't want niggas next to where they crib at

Hey, realtor, I'm lookin' for a nice park

Twelve noon, she said my family gon' make it too dark

This is the flow that solar eclipses

So hopefully one day that real soul will eclipse

The bullshit they got us listenin' to, in this existence

Don't give up now, just a little more persistence

I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson

Keep 'em away, hanh! Something might happen

This is the makin' of a masterpiece

So we broke out the chains and told the master, "Peace!"

[Chorus: Kanye West]

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

[Post-Chorus: Kanye West]

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Alright, okay

Here we go, like we should

Like we should, like we should

Like we should

[Verse 3: Talib Kweli & Consequence]

Some wear a suit and tie, they don't wanna remain average

Some wear a suit and tie like a chain and a straitjacket

My chain heavy, stop in that traffic, coppers harass us

Then D.A. attack us, want us in chains like B. A. Baracus

So no major factor in my decision to be a rapper

Was rebellion; being anti-establishment was attractive

To a Black kid from Brooklyn, flames got the thangs cooking

Land of the juks, where them lames get them chains tooken

It ain't lookin' good for you if you're a tourist here

Sometimes I rhymes the sort of frequency that only purists hear

A couple rappers tried to beef with me, nobody's scared

Niggas was so fucking corny that nobody cared

Why I gotta battle rappers? I debate scholars

Question: do it gotta make sense if it make dollars?

Sick visions is living inside of brains

It's like we sadomasochistic, addicted to whips and chains

Figuratively, quite literally, clinically insane

Spit flames and then visit the higher plane

Try in vain to ignore it, don't buy the chain if you can't afford it

'Ye, them lonely idled whores by the boards, trust (Uh)

[Verse 4: Consequence]

That old ball-and-chain had me chained up for weeks

So, of course I'm off the chain as soon as I hit the streets

And now when we link, she saying the game's over

I drove her crazy, and she became a chain smoker

Now the new dude she's saying that can stay over

Should be a chain, who goes by the name of Choker

That's what he did when she told him he should play the sofa

So the chain's on the door, I'm on the way over

Now when I came over, his only response

Was, "You must be the owner of a chain of restaurants

'Cause I'ma eat your food for that chain that I want

'Cause you be running 'round like the chain make the man"

So it's obvious that he don't know the chain of command

'Cause my chain commands that kind of respect

And it's so chunky that it's a pain in the neck

But it came with a check, I remember on chaining day

It spoke for itself and this is what the chain would say

"Them chain snatchers are hoping that you ain't ready

So don't get distracted, keep your aim steady

Or there'll be a chain reaction, since my chain's heavy"

[Chorus: Kanye West]

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy

My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

[Post-Chorus: Kanye West]

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Here we go, like we should

Feel the sweat, on your face

Alright, okay

Here we go, like we should

Like we should, like we should

Like we should